Gendrel M (2010) Med Sci (Paris) "[A new mode of nicotinic receptor clustering via a secreted CCP (complement control protein) containing protein.]"

Gendrel M

[Med Sci (Paris), 2010]

Pinder JC et al. (2000) Nature "A protein accumulator."

Baines AJ, Pinder JC

[Nature, 2000]

We thought we knew what spectrin does. Is it not the elastic, membrane-bound protein that prevents red blood cells from rupturing as they circulate in the bloodstream? And does it not have the same supporting function in other cells? The second assumption has seldom been questioned over the past two decades, but has just been overturned by the power of experimental genetics, as described in three reports in the Journal of Cell Biology. The results may bear on human diseases such as muscular dystrophy.

Li Y (2011) Protein Cell "Systematic temperature signaling regulates behavior plasticity."

Li Y

[Protein Cell, 2011]

Marx JL (1995) Science "Getting a grip on G protein function in C. elegans."

Marx JL

[Science, 1995]

When it comes to G proteins, cell biologists have amassed a great wealth of material. They have identified nearly 30 of these proteins, which serve as key relays in the pathways that transmit signals from hormones, neurotransmitters, and other cellular regulators from the cell membrane to the interior. And studies with cultured cells have enabled researchers to learn a great deal about the biochemistry of G proteins...

Johnson KA et al. (1996) Nature "Protein kinases. Twitching worms catch S100."

Johnson KA, Quiocho FA

[Nature, 1996]

Springtime finds hopeful anglers baiting hungry fish with twitching worms, both live and artificial. Fish prefer the large annelids, but Kemp and coworkers have knotted on their lines the small, alluring nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which twitches spasmodically when the aptly named protein twitchin goes missing from its muscle cells. And they've caught a big one! On page 636 of this issue, these authors report that the giant protein kinase twitchin, which has a relative molecular mass of 750K and is found in nematode muscle cells, and the protein S100A1(2), a member of the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins, make up a third new calcium-regulated system in muscle which may be of great importance in organizing muscle structure and maintaining its resting tension. They show that a fragment of twitchin containing the autoinhibited kinase domain is specifically activated in a calcium-dependent and zinc-enhanced manner by S100A1(2), but not by the S100B(2) isoform with which it shares 60 percent homology....

Roush W (1996) Science "Sperm protein makes its mark upon the worm embryo."

Roush W

[Science, 1996]

In creatures from worms to people, it takes two sexes to reproduce, but it's often the female who gets stuck with the real work of childbearing. This division of labor is even mirrored in sperm and eggs. The unfertilized eggs of fruit flies, for example, already contain the molecular signals needed to direct one of the first events in embryonic growth, the creation of distinct body segments. The paternal contribution to early development, in contrast, seems paltry. Sperm carries nuclear material and organelles called centrosomes - organizing sites for cell division - that come into play later on, but no biochemical factors that guide early embryogenesis have been traced back to the father. In the January issue of the journal Development, however, molecular biologist Heidi Browning of the University of Colorado and developmental geneticist Susan Strome of Indiana University report that SPE-11, a protein produced only in the sperm of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, may play a crucial role during the first few minutes after the embryo is fertilized.

Hawley RS et al. (2009) Nat Cell Biol "Homologue pairing: getting it right."

Hawley RS, Gilliland WD

[Nat Cell Biol, 2009]

In Caernorhabditis elegans, homologue pairing is mediated by specialized regions near one end of each chromosome in conjunction with zinc finger (ZnF)-bearing proteins. Families of repeated sequences that are enriched within these regions have now been identified. By recruiting their cognate ZnF-bearing proteins, these regions promote pairing and synapsis.

Tavernarakis N et al. (2001) Curr Biol "Structural and functional features of the intracellular amino terminus of DEG/ENaC ion channels."

Everett JK, Driscoll M, Tavernarakis N, Kyrpides NC

[Curr Biol, 2001]

The degenerin/epithelial sodium channel (DEG/ ENaC) protein family includes related ion channel subunits from organisms ranging from the simple nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to humans. Members of this protein family have been implicated in functions as diverse as touch transduction and proprioception [1-4], pain sensation and maintenance of sodium balance [5].

Boone C et al. (2003) Nat Genet "ORFeomics: correcting the wiggle in worm genes."

Andrews B, Boone C

[Nat Genet, 2003]

A new study attempts to amplify and clone all the predicted protein-encoding open reading frames (ORFs) for Caenorhabditis elegans. This analysis confirms many of the predicted genes but suggests roughly 50% of them require correction. Recombining the ORFs into a number of different expression systems can generate functional proteomics kits for characterizing protein activity and interaction networks.

Lloyd TE et al. (2001) Nat Neurosci "pRIMing synaptic vesicles for fusion."

Bellen HJ, Lloyd TE

[Nat Neurosci, 2001]

A characterization of C. elegans lacking the gene for Rim suggests that this protein may be involved in pruning synaptic vesicles for fusion, not in docking or organizing active zones.